Stags relieved Junior Brown injury not serious

Mansfield Town were delighted to discover Junior Brown’s hamstring injury is not a serious one and he could be back in less than two weeks.
Junior Brown.Junior Brown.
Junior Brown.

The winger limped off after 65 minutes of Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Cheltenham, but boss Adam Murray said today: “Junior had a scan in the early part of the week and fortunately it was not as bad as first expected.

“This Saturday and Tuesday may come a bit too soon, but we hope he might be back the following week. We are just happy it’s not longer term.

“It’s always difficult when someone pulls up like that and you are getting your subs ready. But if the ball comes into their area of the pitch they have to go back into action.

“You try to get them off as quickly as possible to limit the damage.

“But we have a good option in Jeffrey Monakana. He has shown us glimpses of what he is about and he is more than capable of doing a good job. He is a bit different to Junior. He is more direct and very quick and carries the ball well for us.

Stags reserves were beaten 3-2 at Doncaster yesterday, strikers Matt Rhead and Rakish Bingham with the goals, Rhead with a penalty and then a flick-on for Bingham’s strike.

Stags were 3-0 down just after the break, but battled back hard with central defender Michael Raynes skippering the side on his return from injury.

“It was a decent game and the boys played some good stuff,” said Murray.

“Michael Raynes is ready to go now, but Martin Riley and Ryan Tafazolli have been performing at a high level over the last few weeks.

“Michael is a professional and a top man. He is a leader in the dressing room and he has been in the game long enough to know he has to bide his time and wait for a shirt again.”